Monday, 10 July 2017

Jane and Sadia, two of our new Commissioners will be blogging each month, sharing their thoughts, experiences and what it means to be a Poverty Truth Commissioner.

In the sixth of the series, Sadia shares her thoughts and the thoughts of others on the impact of poverty on families seeking asylum.

I have done so much thinking about poverty and how it’s
affecting many families in my community of which most of them are single
mothers. I had a chance to discuss my thoughts and also hear the women
discussing how there is a lot of fear, worries and frustrations just to think
of how to meet the demands of holidays. For instance, things like their peers
getting a break and them not able to get away for even one night.

The women discussed how things like this affect the moods in
the house, children demanding and mums not being able to give them what they
want because they cannot afford the money and also that to most families on low
income, events and activities doesn’t come as a priority to them. All the mums want
is to make sure the little money they get is going to most basic needs of which
is very hard for the children to understand. Why their families can’t afford
and yet their friends can? It’s hard to explain to children the complications
of benefits, Jobcentre and how hard it is to do the job you want with Jobcentre
demands and sanctions. My community
group at Saheliya also expressed concerns over how expensive character clothing
are priced. You cannot afford to spend £10-£15 on one-character clothing, and
what if you have 3 young children?

There were a lot of questions and concerns discussed between
us with no answers, what is the solution to end this poverty within our
communities? How about the holidays coming? Children discuss holidays in
schools and wish they could go to holidays local or abroad too. Some of us can’t
even afford holiday even in the beautiful boarders of Scotland. Could they be
considerable discount for holiday packages for some low income venerable
families living in poverty? Poverty is
real and it is affecting most of families in our communities.

I want to continue to raise my voice and our voice with the
Poverty Truth Commission. We need to continue meeting, discussing and looking
to keep going, to take things forward.

The three working groups reflect how people are suffering:
cuts, mental illness and asylum. More
cuts mean more suffering and more people in poverty and having mental illness.
Poverty creates tension in families. This tension and poverty can lead to addiction,
to homelessness, to poor prospects. The cuts are making people ill and sick.
The fear the cuts bring is leading to mental illness. A lot of people are
affected by this. The behaviour of young people is affected by growing up in
poverty.

Friday, 2 June 2017

Jane and Sadia, two of our new Commissioners will be blogging each month, sharing their thoughts, experiences and what it means to be a Poverty Truth Commissioner.

In the fifth of the series, Jane talks about the 3 Working Groups looking at Mental Health, Asylum and Cuts and Assessments that have been set up.

"Now we move into 3 groups, each of which focuses on a particular
issue.

I have chosen the group that will look at cuts and
assessments.

This is something that really matters to me.

I have seen friends and family fearful, anxious and
extremely worried at the prospect not just of losing their benefits

but of the process of being ‘assessed’. What a cold,
frightening word.

And what exactly are the criteria for that assessment?

As for the forms involved, I have never met a single person
who understood how the form should be answered.

And all of us know the feeling of trying to complete a form
you don’t understand. You feel sick, stupid and very vulnerable.

If you try to explain how a condition can vary from day to
day, and that’s the truth of many chronic conditions, you’re likely to lose in
what seems like a game of snakes and ladders – except this particular board
game has only snakes, spiralling down.

Our role in the new group is to gather evidence. We,
as the commissioners, are the evidence. So personal stories are what we
will gather.

I’m aware that what we pull together and how we focus this
is of huge importance. It feels exciting to be underway with this work
but again, I need to keep listening to others.

Now that we can reveal our roles and jobs outside the
commission, I can own up to being that thing called - a journalist!

I have worked for many years in broadcasting and as a
freelance writer.

So I will hope to find ways of drawing attention in the
media to the work we do over the next months.

Outside the Commission, I am continuing to volunteer with
the Welcoming Charity in Edinburgh.

It welcomes asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants
to Scotland, offering classes in English, outings, musical events - you
name it, they try to arrange it. This month a beginner’s group for joggers
began.

I volunteer at the weekly conversation café, where anyone
with a bit of English can come along. Each time I go, I am overwhelmed by
the enthusiasm and commitment of those who are learning English.

I watch them launching into sentences on all sorts of
subjects as if they were leaping off the top diving board – plunging in, so
keen to try.

I spoke to one young man from Cadiz who had trained as a
social worker. I said that I thought the unemployment rate in Madrid was
around 25 per cent. He replied, ‘In Madrid, yes. But where I live,
in the south, or in the rural areas, it’s nearer 65 per cent. I will
never work as a social worker where I am from. I have to learn English
and speak it fluently to find another job. I want to become bilingual.’

He’s working as a kitchen porter and loves being in
Scotland.

It reminds me of a conversation I had with one of my fellow
commissioners a while back, who arrived in Scotland as an asylum seeker from
Somalia. She was offered classes in English when she arrived but wants
further classes to be offered for those in her community.

To make real progress in the job market, you need to be
fluent in English.

There is so much to be done and I am looking forward to the
next meetings with the Commission."

Monday, 24 April 2017

Jane and Sadia, two of our new Commissioners will be blogging each month, sharing their thoughts, experiences and what it means to be a Poverty Truth Commissioner.

In the fourth of the series, Sadia reflects on stories she has heard within the Commission and others within her own community.

I have found being part of
the Commission fantastic and inspiring. I am learning a lot from listening to
everyone’s stories.

I have been touched by
hearing about how one commissioner lost his job due to ill health and spiraled
down into poverty. I also was moved by another commissioner’s story of how
poverty affected their mental health.

Listening to the issues in
my community I am aware that many are ashamed of using food banks. Brexit and
the uncertainty it has brought has made people terrified. They are afraid that
they will lose their jobs that companies will go elsewhere in Europe to find
workers. How will Scotland suffer?

Benefit cuts are affecting
families: mothers walking further with children looking for food banks.
Worrying about cuts, terrified. I wish I could help them but
I can’t, I fight to look for a way. This poverty is not going away; it is
getting bad – more families getting poorer. People worrying, and getting mental
health problems.

Worry, worry. Counting tins
in cupboards.

We have to fight. Fight for
poverty to go away. The poor are just looking for their daily bread, no
luxuries. I tell women: if you are
ashamed (of using food banks) those children are going hungry. Feed them.

One woman I know who was pregnant
got asylum here. She had to move from furnished temporary accommodation into a
flat with nothing in it. Completely bare: she went into labour and when she
came out of hospital she could not stay in her flat. It had completely nothing
in it. No cooker, no fridge, no carpets, no bed, nothing. A friend moved her daughter
into her bedroom so that the woman and her child could have a bed when they got
out of hospital. She had to stay there for a month.

Monday, 20 March 2017

Jane and Sadia, two of our new Commissioners will be blogging each month, sharing their thoughts, experiences and what it means to be a Poverty Truth Commissioner.In the third of the series, Jane reflects on the last full gathering of the Commission. The theme for the Conversation was 'Story' reflecting on our need to listen and listen again to how our stories chime with each other and enable us to relate at a human level.

'There is never a single story about any kind of place.' Chimanda Ngozi Adichie

Deirdre’s story was what stays in the mind from our last meeting together.

Written in her own words, it was printed on several pages. We each read a few lines and handed it on to the person next to us. Reading aloud is always a strange experience but sharing the story together brought Deirdre’s experience of sudden and terrifying violence at the age of five, at the hands – and feet – of her father, very much alive, as if it was happening now. It left me feeling as if I was trying to draw breath.

Deirdre’s mother left her husband, taking her two children with her. Deirdre and her brother hated having to visit their father and once she was older she refused point black to visit. The issue came before a judge.

He listened, recognised the pain in her story, and agreed that she should not be forced to visit her father any more.

Deirdre went on to suffer some form of mental collapse but life turned a corner when she met and later married Jeff. But no matter how hard they worked, no matter how many jobs they juggled, they couldn't get out of debt and ended up being allocated a place to live in an area where drugs were rife. Here, the community centre became a real source of support and help, a light in the darkness.

For me, what stood out was Deirdre’s strength of character in challenging the custody order in court - and the importance of someone, the judge in this instance, who listened to her. Having a voice, being listened to, was something hugely important to someone sitting next to me who had also had an abusive childhood.

The importance of community was also raised by many people – the need to be valued, to have an identity.

As the discussion continued, other issues came to the fore. A deep longing for equality. Education that is about skills like leadership, not just academic subjects. Fairness.

One voice that stays with me spoke softly but with great feeling.

‘Once I had a house, a car. I worked until I could no longer do so to look after my son and his special needs. There was no job that would fit around his needs. I lost the house. I lost the car. Being on benefit hung heavy on my shoulders. And now I have no pension.’

Another story of falling out of work when you want to work.

Another story of the having work one day and then falling down a real-life game of snakes and ladders, with only snakes and no ladders.

As we gradually get to know each other, there is a sense of real warmth. It is also clear that there is anger and passion in the room.

Our next meeting will help us begin to work through what we as individuals – or as a collective group – will do to address the deep sense of injustice.

Friday, 24 February 2017

Jane and Sadia, two of our new Commissioners will be blogging each month, sharing their thoughts, experiences and what it means to be a Poverty Truth Commissioner.

In the second of the series, Sadia reflects on the struggles of families

within her community, and the wisdom contained therein.

A lot of
people do not notice how we are suffering from poverty.

A lot of
people do not have money and the money they have it's not enough. They live
with poverty and as a result they always go for food bank. They walk
miles and miles away with children looking for food banks. They have to rely on food banks, and they do not even provide enough food. How long will we have to live like this?

They can’t
afford to top up when they have this kind of poverty. They get a
lot of mental health problems such a small thing. When
somebody have 4-5 children with some of them teenagers, even a can of food is
not enough for them. They need a
bus pass some of them to go to school and the parent cannot afford it.

Poverty
comes in many forms, it does not only affect the mothers mental health but
also children, for example young people in school can be bullied, mocked and
experience pressure from peer groups because of the way they look - this is the kind of poverty
that is very common in our communities.

Another
issue is the Job Centre sanctions. This has affected some members of our
communities. Every day a woman is worried about how to provide for and feed her
family. How is she going to manage to feed her family now she has been sanctioned? How is she going to cope
with all this poverty?

I think we
are all human, we have to think about how we can work together to end this
poverty.

Tuesday, 7 February 2017

As we launch Round 4 of The Poverty Truth Commission, we are also delighted to launch our new monthly blog series.

Jane and Sadia, two of our new Commissioners will be blogging each month, sharing their thoughts, experiences and what it means to be a Poverty Truth Commissioner.

In the first of the series, Jane reflects on the launch of the new Commission and her thoughts around listening.

"When we met for the first time a week ago, and each of us
arrived at Gorbals Parish Church, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But
immediately there was something unusual in the air. As we stepped into
the room where we meet, conversations started up at once – without being
forced. It felt natural. I think this must be because those who
have joined the Commission have done so with a real desire to give their best,
whatever that may be. There’s also a sense of the unknown, not knowing
where the meetings and discussions will take us. But from the start, it felt good.

I don’t want to give names in this blog so that everyone
keeps a sense of privacy.

What I recall from the meeting is my memory. And my
thoughts are just that – personal.

I came away from the first meeting of this Commission with several
phrases ringing in my ears, words from the personal stories that some of those
living in poverty told us, opening up to a group of strangers in a way that is
hard to put into words. Each story made such an impact.

‘Poverty hits you from all sides.’

‘A trap door opens up. One minute you’ve got a job,
the next minute you’re in debt. And once you’re in debt, no one gives you
credit’.

One word that kept being raised in these stories was
depression. Problems with mental health.

‘It’s the sense of isolation. You need to be checked up on
or you give up the will to live.

It’s hard to share this. But the mind starts to play tricks
on you.’

It’s one thing reading about poverty in the newspapers or
hearing about it on radio or television. It’s shocking and it makes you angry. But it’s a
completely different thing to sit up close and hear someone’s personal story.

Such as that of refugees where the women are often on their
own, if – and this is a tough phrase – if their men are dead. We heard about the women in the Somali community in Glasgow,
pushing prams for miles to the nearest foodbank, and struggling to cope with a
system of social care that is supposed to help the vulnerable but which feels
‘robotic’ and terrifying.

We met one woman from that community describing herself as a
voice for others, a voice for change.

We watched someone in a film of those who had been part of
the 2014 Commission saying with conviction - ‘I’ve learnt that I should
be counted, I’m more than a number.’

For me listening, I came away wondering how I am going to be
a voice for others, to speak out.

I recently left my full time job and I’m starting again as a
freelance feature writer, something I did a long time ago when my children were
small. I don’t know the editors of the newspapers any longer so I
need to make new contacts and meet them face to face.

So I’ve been writing emails, making calls, and I’ve got two
meetings arranged with senior features editors based in Glasgow. It’s the first step for me to be able to share stories and
press for change – when the time is right.

I tell people I’ve joined the Poverty Truth Commission – and
what it stands for.

So that they will ask more and offer me opportunities to
find ways of getting more people involved and on side, hearing not my voice but
the voices of those living in poverty.

Someone at BBC Radio has asked to meet me for a chat.

I’ve been planning to find out more about two charities in
Edinburgh where I live who help refugees in the city. I’m interested in teaching English in conversation classes
but I need to do a course to be able to that. This week I’ve made contact with one of the charities and I
want to see what else I can do as a volunteer - now. And I’ll find out more about the course on how to teach
English and if I can do it part-time.

I’m trying to speak out about issues that impact on poverty
and also on community as a whole. Speak out rather than just moan about it with my family and
friends.

I had a letter from my local MP telling me he’s started a
petition to fight against the closure of our local post office. I wrote back to say that I feel very strongly about keeping
communities strong and I’ve signed the petition. But I also asked him why he had sent the letter on the most
expensive paper possible – I think it used to be called ‘vellum’ which shows
how old fashioned it is – and with the hallmark of the House of Commons
embossed on it.

He replied to say that the House of Commons buys the paper
in bulk so it’s really as cheap as any other kind of paper. I don’t agree with that logic. Does every letter sent
to every constituent across the land need to be written on such luxury
notepaper?Surely MPs could save a massive amount of money by using
cheaper paper, and spend that money on policies that make lives better. It’s just one small step … I know .. It may seem
trivial. But I’m starting to try to speak up.

On the other hand, when I’m with everyone in the commission,
it’s very good for me just to sit and listen.

To think.

And then work out how best to act. How to speak up.

I’m looking forward to the next meetings very much.

It feels as if we are a group of individuals meeting in such
a special way that we will get to know each other and become friends.

About Us

The Poverty Truth Commission brings together some of Scotland's key decision makers with those living at the sharp end of poverty. We work together towards overcoming poverty in Scotland; ensuring that those affected by decisions are central to decision-making. The Commission believes poverty will only truly be addressed when those who experience it first-hand are at the heart of the process.